Monday, September 19, 2011

Album Review: Big Boi- Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty



Average Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 9.2/10
         1.  Intro
         2.  Daddy Fat Sax (10/10)
         3. Turn Me On Ft. Sleepy Brown & Joi (8.5/10)
         4. Follow Us Ft. Vonnegutt (9/10)
         5. Shutterbugg Ft. Cutty (9.5/10)
         6. General Patton (6/10)
         7. Tangerine Ft. T.I & Khujo Goodie (8/10)
         8. You Ain’t No DJ Ft. Yelawolf (10/10)
         9. Hustle Blood Ft. Jamie Foxx (5.5/10)
         10. Be Still Ft. Janelle Monae (9/10)
         11. For Yo Sorrows Ft. Sam Chris, Too $hort & George Clinton (10/10)
         12. Night Night Ft. B.o.B & Joi (9/10)
         13. Shine Blockas Ft. Gucci Mane (6/10)
         14. The Train Pt.2 Ft. Sam Chris (9/10)
         15. Back Up Plan (10/10)
         16. Theme Song (7/10)
         17.  Royal Flush Ft. Andre 3000 & Reakwon (10/10)


     For four years now OutKast, or any of their members have in a way, took a bit of a break. The brain behind a lot of the creativity of the due, Andre 3000 has gone into mostly just production and making guest appearances, and his right hand man, the more traditional rapper of the group Big Boi has gone on to begin a solo career, so now with a solo album, “Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty” can Big Boi change his image from Andre’s right hand man to finally building a name of his own?

     This album wasn’t the first time Big Boi worked alone, the 2003 Outkast double album “The Love Below/ Speakerboxxx” had an entire half of the album made entirely be Big Boi, it was excellent, but it still stood behind Andre’s side, “The Love Below”. So now, with very little Andre 3000 featured anywhere on this album, Big Boi can finally make a name out of himself and not just build his dynasty behind Andre’s.

     “Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty” showed a lot of growth for Big Boi since his 2003 semi-solo debut. Like Speakerboxxx the “Sir Lucious Leftfoot” album shows off a lot of lyrical skill, which included a lot of great punchlines, a lot of very powerful wordplay, a lot of pop culture references, and  a lot of fun tongue twisters. The album was really a showcase of really strong, fun flows and just pure lyrical talent, that was what this album was about, and since Big Boi has really expanded and became a better artist throughout his career, this album really showed his growth, and his stronger lyrical talent in great group of the tracks here.

     The production on this album was pure classic southern hip-hop. The production featured a lot of dance inspired, club-like, drum and bass influenced rhythms. The whole album’s production sounded great, nothing on the album was really serious music or something like that, and that was not a problem at all, there is no denying the fun, strong southern party inspired production in the album. The production here really was a reminder on why southern hip-hop once ruled the hip-hop world, and honestly that’s exactly why it was so excellent.

     The album also had a large number of excellent tracks. Some of the most notable tracks here include “You Ain’t No DJ” which had a really unique beat, and great lyrical performances by Big Boi and Yelawolf, “Daddy Fat Sax” which was a bit short, but it’s great wordplay, beat and flow more than make up for its short length, “Royal Flush” was a great track, it had verses from Big Boi, Reakwon, and Andre 3000, so it was in a way an OutKast reunion, and as usual, Big Boi seems to stand behind Andre no matter how good he raps, “For Yo Sorrows” was really a great party track, it had great production, the flow was really good and strong, and as usual the wordplay was outstanding, and “Back Up Plan” which felt like really an excellent all-around party track.

     The album did have some issues though. The production did feel fairly plain and a bit boring at some points, “Hustle Blood” was a mixed track in my opinion, thanks to its plain production, “General Patton” could have been one of the best on the album, but it’s beat puts it down a few levels, and .”Shine Blocks” which was a good track, but its poor hook and having a needless and poor verse from Gucci Mane really hurt the song and made it into something much smaller than what it could have been if it was just Big Boi or if it featured someone else.

     Other than the production errors on some tracks on the album, the album’s theme was too simplistic for Big Boi. I mean, true the album had a theme, and it showed that Big Boi did grow as an artist, but given his lyrical talent and strength, you’d think the theme would have matched, I mean, the theme here was good and all, but just not really something Big Boi would really grow to after being in the game since 1994.

     Overall Antwan Andre Patton gives us something that was pretty much a success form beginning to end. True, it’s not quite as good as Outkast’s albums as a duo, but it is certainly as good as his half of the double album “The Love Below/ Speakerboxxx”. The album had it’s really great moments, and it’s reasons to be a classic, but the albums did have some bad sides that brought it down though, so overall this album was excellent, but not really as good as it should have been though.

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